“The rain might have stopped, but the compound was still a morass of shallow lakes and slippery mud. Black brothers were folding their tents, feeding their horses, and chewing on strips of salt beef.”
Salt Beef
Our Thoughts:
We won’t lie. We bought a ten pound piece of meat to cure without even thinking of the blog. We’re that culinary crazy. When one of us realized that we were pretty much making salt beef, we were a) relieved that this meaty goodness could be shared with the world, and b) absolved of the crime of cooking food outside of the blog. We did, however, look like a house of psychopaths for three weeks while the muslin-wrapped bundles hung in our pantry. Which has a window, of course.
But once we unwrapped and sliced into the wondrous meat, the weeks of apparent insanity were completely worth it. The meat is, obviously, very salty, but when paired with a sharp cheese and a good loaf of bread, it is the perfect trail food. We brought a chunk of our salt beef when we went camping, and it became part of breakfast, lunch and dinner!
A long wait for the finished product, but well worth the wait!
Salt Beef Recipe
Ingredients:
- Main muscle from the top round cut of beef (ask your butcher)
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1/4cup Black pepper
- 1/4 cup Prague Powder #2 (also ask your butcher, it’s expressly for curing meat)
- 2 sprigs fresh Rosemary leaves
Soo… is the Prague Powder #2 the salt? That doesn’t seem like very much! How big is the muscle usually?
Yes, the Prague Powder contains salt, among other yummy curing ingredients. We ended up with a huge cow that our meat came from, so it was about 6 lbs total. It’s ok to cut the muscle in half, just try and keep the fibers’ integrity, as that is what keeps out air and bacteria that can cause decay.
You ladies are amazing! I’m looking forward to making this!!
The only real question I have with this recipe is how long should I wait before springing this idea on my new roommate! He’s manly… surely he’ll go for it! (I hope)
Apparently you Ladies are much tougher than he is!
Awww let us talk to him, you can never say no to girls who can cook!
I’m super impressed that you guys cured your own meat! That’s awesome! I’m trying to think of a place where I could cure my own meat and I’m drawing blanks. My attic is really hot, the storage space under my stairs is, well, gross. I’m in awe. :P
Hello! Interesting!
I’m from Atlantic Canada.
We would call this cured beef.
Salt beef to us is pieces of meat cured in a brine with big pieces of salt.
We then boil it for several hours, replenishing the water as needed.
Cooking depends on how fresh it is.
But you do want to cook it so it is easy to eat.
I would love to try this, but moved last year and have no cold room.
Good work.
By the way where do your quotes come from??
Charlie- the blog is based off of the food of Westeros which is the location of George Martin’s series of books called Songs of Ice and Fire. The quotes are taken from the books.
I just noticed at the top that you have a tab for Kings Landing.
Where are you located?
We’re physically based in Boston, but really love foods from all over the world. I’d love to try proper salt beef at some point, according to your recommendation! :)
You may be able to get salt beef in the pail at your supermarkets.
It may be available in States around maineor online.
Wish you had more picture of the process. I would like to try this.
“Hang in a cool, somewhat moist area for three weeks, or until it loses 30% of its weight.”
30% of its starting weight, or 30% since hanging?
Hi Stargazer: They are both the same. But if you wish 30% of it’s original weight.
In the stores Salt Beef is usually called “Cured Naval Beef”
Here we usually buy it at Sobeys because they have the best.
How did you store it after making it?
Greetings!
Have you run across any recipes that don’t have artificial nitrites and/or dyes in them? This sounds soooo good… but I think I need to find a straight brine recipe, as we can’t do preservatives or dyes.
A brine would probably have salt in it as well. Preserved meat is pretty hard to make without using at least salt as a preservative agent. I would opt for something more like a tartar, close to the same appearance and perhaps a more appealing texture, just pre-preservation! This recipe does not have any dyes, and the recipes that do at the Inn generally include a red dye in place of sandalwood, which was used mainly for it’s color.
Hi,
This looks good and your blog is super cool!
As for question above of preserving beef without addatives – try to look for biltong recipes (South African dried meat). In general it uses salt and viniger. It also takes much time but requires a simple aparatus (a box with a lamb in it and some holes)…
Keep up the good work!
would the process change for pork?
I have always wanted to try curing meat, this is excellent! Now to try it for myself….